As car-rental companies look to cut costs, customers may be exposed to stingier policies and lower-quality rentals.

Some companies are actually renting you older cars with more miles, while others are implementing stricter rules about refueling and adding on extra charges.
For example, Vanguard Car Rental says its vehicles have about 2,000 more miles on them than last year.

And because of high gasoline prices, rental companies are more stringent with their refueling policies.

Dollar/Thrifty Automotive Group requires its customers to refuel within 10 miles of their return location and they must present a receipt.

However, Hertz and Enterprise say they don’t mandate where their customers refuel but charge up to $7 a gallon for unfilled tanks.

Hertz has become less generous with its loyalty programs and now requires 100 more points to qualify for a free rental day.